so long - t.s.h [sequel to pinky promises]

[eight]

The next morning, Tom knew what he had to do with Amber, regardless of whether or not you were actually pregnant. Deep down, he had known, but after talking with his mum the night before, he knew that Amber was not someone that he could have in his life. If Maggie wanted Amber to be a part of her life later, she could do that on her own volition, but it wasn't something that Tom was going to put up with any longer. So, after you were awake, Tom let you know that he was going to meet Amber for a bit by himself after dropping Maggie off and her Uncle Haz's house, which had already been planned for a while.

You trusted Tom, even though you didn't trust Amber in the slightest. But even so, you gave him a nervous kiss as you helped load Maggie into the car, "Just be careful, okay?"

"I will, love. Don't worry. I'm all yours."

After dropping Maggie off at his best friend's house, he pulled up to the cafe that he was meeting Amber at. Tom was nervous, unsure how Amber would react, and whether or not she would explode, but he knew he had to do this. Not just for himself, but for you and Maggie, too. Taking a deep breath, he walked inside and found Amber already sitting there, a cup of coffee in her hand. This wouldn't take too long, so he didn't bother ordering anything, as he knew that Amber likely had some plan brewing because she had him alone for once. All Tom wanted to do was get it over with. Get Amber out of his life for good.

Without saying anything, Tom pulled out his chair and sat down, giving Amber a tight-lipped smile, "Hey."

"Hi, Tommy! What did you want to talk about?" she asked in that sickly sweet voice, giving him a matching smile.

Tom practically laughed at her behavior, but stopped himself as he traced along the wood grain in the table, "Uh, well, I basically just wanted you to know that I can't do this anymore."

Playing dumb, Amber cocked her head to the side, eyebrows furrowing together, "Do what?"

"We need to stop having contact. I just can't have you in my life, Amber. In our lives."

"What?" Amber scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest as she sat back in the chair, "What the fuck, Tom?"

"I'm done with this, Amber. You made my entire life chaos four years ago, and I'm not going to let that happen again. Especially since this time, I have a family to think about. I have Maggie, and my relationship with Y/N, and both of those are more important than trying to save your feelings, or avoiding doing anything so I don't hurt your feelings."

Amber shook her head, "Are you fucking serious? I thought this was for Maggie? So she could get to know me."

She was right. But part of taking care of Maggie was taking care of himself and Maggie's support system, which was you and Tom together. And Tom knew that with Amber around, that support system would eventually crumble. Tom lifted his shoulders into a shrug, "It was. But I need to look out for my daughter, and I know that if you stay, everything she knows will fall apart, and I can't let that happen. I'm not saying that she can never know you; that'll be up to her. As for now, though, you can't have regular contact with me or with Maggie, and I'm not going to fight about this. You lost all right to have a say in Maggie's life when you left four years ago and left Maggie in my custody."

Standing up, Amber nearly knocked her chair over as she fumed, eyes burning with anger, "See, this... this is why I fucking left the first time. No wonder I left you and her behind. This is bullshit."

Her words stung slightly as Tom watched her stomp away. But in reality, he was relieved. If that's what she really thought, then he was right and it was better for her to stay away. The whole thing never had been about Maggie, and he was just happy to finally have the whole thing behind him. A weight had finally been lifted from his shoulders, having done what was necessary not only for him and Maggie, but for you too.